Christian Books

I, Grace, recently read A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis and I found it be a fascinating read. Probably C.S. Lewis’s most thought provoking book that I have read.

Since we are living through some tough current events that have changed how we live our lives, we thought it would be a great book to feature for this week’s Sunday Reading. 

C.S. Lewis wrote A Grief Observed after his wife’s death. This book came about because of what he lived and experienced. He wrote it through pain and suffering. 

If you have gone through a tough time or are currently going through a difficult time, then you will understand some of C.S. Lewis’s thoughts.

It helped me see that others have dealt with some of the similar thoughts and made it through it.

He works through the different stages that we cope with during out time of pain and struggles. It also allows for us to see that we all deal with similar issues. 

Often we see our own pain and way of going through it as unique and only felt by us, this is not true. Sure everyone is slightly different, different circumstances, different problems, different thoughts, ways to go through it. It is still similar though. 

Reading about someone dealing with loss is helpful. Especially if your the midst of it or have just come out of it. 

Pick it up. It will help you even if it is you just slowly reading through the chapters. A Grief Observed, might not be your normal read, but I think that you will profit from it. 

I debated on whether or not to share this book for Sunday Reading, but when I was deciding what book to feature this week I kept coming back to the book Kiss the Wave by Dave Furman.

This book has been a huge encouragement to me, and I kept thinking that there is someone else out there who needs the encouragement that this book offers. 

The sovereignty of God can be a controversial topic, both in and outside, the Christian and church world. The reality that God is in control is a concept that many people don’t like. For me, it is a great comfort to know that God is writing my story, not me. 

Life is full of trials. There is no getting away from the trials of life. We live in a sin filled world.

Tragedies happen. People fail us. Life is full of sickness and disease. Friends and family die. No matter how hard you try, you cannot escape the difficulties of life. It is the reality of the world that we live in. 

It is often easy to look at our own life and think that we have it so bad. We often feel that our life is worse than those around us.

The reality though is that everyone has trials and difficulties. None of us are immune from it. The timing and circumstances may vary, but we all suffer at one time or another. 

Often it is not the circumstance that wears us down, it is how we handle it. My husband has a sign hanging in his office that says “It is not the load that weighs you down it is how you carry it.” There is so much truth in that saying. 

Are you carrying a heavy load right now? How are you carrying it? If you are anything like me, the trials of life can be difficult to carry. They weigh us down. 

How can we handle the difficulties of life better?

You start by learning to embrace them. You realize that God is in control. That he has a plan and purpose for whatever difficulty you are going through. 

Over the last few years, our family has dealt with quite a few medical issues. At times it has been overwhelming and discouraging. 

It was during one of the overwhelming times that I saw a review for the book Kiss the Wave by Dave Furman.

The title caught my attention right away: Kiss the Wave: Embracing God In Your Trials. I knew that it was a book that I needed to read because I was struggling to embrace our family’s health issues that have at times seemed overwhelming. 

The phrase “kiss the wave” is said to be a quote from Charles Spurgeon. If you are not familiar with Charles Spurgeon, he was a nineteenth century British preacher.

That saying is all about embracing our trials. Instead of fighting the wave, you embrace it. And in the process of embracing it, you realize that God works all things for our good and His glory. 

Is that easy? No. Not at all. In the midst of trials it is incredibly difficult to remember that God has a plan and a purpose that we cannot see. It is hard to face our trials with a good attitude. 

That is why I loved the book Kiss the Wave by Dave Furman. It helps show you how to embrace these trials with grace, while giving God the glory for them. It is a reminder that God is in control and that He sees the bigger picture. He has a plan and a purpose that we can’t see. 

One of the things that I loved about this book was that throughout the book the author shares his story of suffering with a debilitating nerve condition in both of his arms.

He shares his experiences and how God has given him the strength to face each day with debilitating pain.

This book is written by someone who understands chronic pain and illness. The author knows what it is like to have the life you planned out totally changed by God. 

He shares he struggles with discouragement and pain, but he also shows how God has used it in his life for his good. The author reminds us to kiss the wave and to give God the glory while embracing the trials of life. 

I enjoyed this book so much that I have now given it to quite a few people that have gone through difficult times with the hope that it encourages them. 

If you are currently going through a rough time, or known someone that is, I hope that this book, Kiss the Wave, will be an encouragement to you. 

Sunday Reading is a new feature that we are doing for 2020. We hope that it is a feature that you enjoy!

It is no secret that our family loves to read. We read all kinds of books including Christian biographies and theological type books. We shared a little bit about this when we shared about reading outside the box. 

Grace does not read your typical college girl type of books, and I don’t read a lot of modern fiction like many people I know do. We read mainly nonfiction, and we love to encourage others to read nonfiction.

We often share the nonfiction history books that we read, but we want to also share some of the other books we read including some of the Christian books and biographies. Books by authors like C.S Lewis, Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, and more. 

In the past, we have not shared a lot of Christian, theology, or political type books because we didn’t want to deal with the nasty comments that those type of books tend to get, but since they are a big part of what we read, Grace and I decided to start sharing some of them on Sundays. 

You don’t have to agree with everything you read. The goal with reading is to help you grow, learn, and think. We know not everyone has a desire to read books like Christian biographies or books by C.S. Lewis, Bonhoeffer, or Martin Luther, but we are hoping you don’t mind a few books like that added to the mix of books we already share. 

We also hope that it will inspire you to add a few Christian books or biographies to your 2020 reading. 

We will always put Sunday reading in the title of the post, so if you don’t want to see what Christian books we are reading, feel free to skip it. For those of you that love Christian books as much as we do, we hope that you find a few books to add to your reading pile. 

For this week’s Sunday Reading we are featuring one of our family’s favorite Christian biographies. 

I have been reading Christian biographies since I was a teenager. Some of my all time favorite books are biographies. I have always found it encouraging to read about the lives and struggles of others. We can learn so much from learning how others deal with the trials of this life. 

Jungle Pilot: The Story of Nate Saint